


Convergence of Souls

by Iced_Tea_Possibly



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: ...we'll get there I promise, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Crush, Eventual Fluff, F/F, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Feelings, Kissing, No Smut, No use of y/n, Pining, Slow Burn, oh my, reader saves the doctor, we're all gay here, wlw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-16 21:56:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29582706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iced_Tea_Possibly/pseuds/Iced_Tea_Possibly
Summary: You and the Doctor land on a mysterious gloomy planet that is seemingly devoid of life, even though the TARDIS picks up on lifeforms. Your intuition tells you something's very off about this strange place, but you both decide to go investigate in case somebody out there needs help.After some in-depth exploring leading to no answers, you make a distressing discovery that explains why the planet is so unusually empty - this is one you'll have to figure out on your own.
Relationships: Thirteenth Doctor & Reader, Thirteenth Doctor/Reader, Thirteenth Doctor/You
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	1. Tea, Please

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Thanks for clicking!
> 
> I've been working on this project instead of doing my uni homework (whoops), and I'm so excited to finally start sharing it with you. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I am writing it. Shoutout to one of my good friends for giving me an awesome prompt to work with.
> 
> I've never posted a chaptered series so I hope I've formatted this correctly! Bear with me...
> 
> I will be updating this regularly, I promise. I'm already many chapters ahead :)
> 
> This one will get a lil intense but have a happy ending. Starting it off slow and steady... the calm before the storm.  
> Enjoy!

I stood in a bustling cafe, surrounded by a blurry haze of people talking on their phones and clutching their steaming takeaway cups. The air was filled with the sound of overlapping chatter and the smell of coffee beans. I stretched a little and shifted my weight from one leg to the other. It was around midday on a Tuesday - maybe - and I had just ordered some drinks and a bite to eat, and I was patiently awaiting my name to be called.

The Doctor had sent me on a little "mission" before heading off on our next trip. We were in the console room having a conversation about where we'd head next, unsure of where we should go, when a very important topic came up.

Tea.

Very important indeed.

"I know just what'll help us decide. A nice cuppa!" She'd exclaimed.

She was underneath the console, laying down and facing up, fiddling with some wires. I was stood next to her, arms folded, quietly watching her tinker away. 

"But let's try something different. Hmm, something exotic," she mumbled. "Can you go out and find something? I'm sure Earth has some interesting stuff."

She'd been at it for hours trying to fix something on the telepathic circuit. Whether or not she was getting anywhere with it, I wasn't sure. I'd often enter the room and offer my help; although most of the time, I had no idea what she was doing. Deep down, I knew I just really enjoyed keeping her company.

"Yeah, I'm sure I can find something. Are you after anything in particular?" I asked, tilting my head.

She scooted out a little and sat up, lifting her goggles to look at me properly. It left her hair adorably messy.

"Nah... not really. I'll leave that up to you. Oh, and empty pockets," she scrunched up her nose, tapping her pockets. "Could you pay? We landed in the right country, didn't we? You've got the right currency?"

"Yeah, of course," I replied, tapping my jacket pocket to make sure my wallet was in there. I wasn't rich by any means, but I knew I definitely had enough cash on me to buy us both something to drink. It was the least I could do for a friend with a time machine, honestly.

"I'll see what I can find nearby."

She flashed me another dazzling smile. "Brilliant. Thanks!"

And with that, she put her goggles back on and scooted back under, returning to her little tinkering zone.

I pulled open the TARDIS door and was met by a cool breeze going through my hair. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"Draught!" A muffled voice uttered from inside. Whoops.

"Got it, sorry," I replied, gently pulling the door shut behind me.

I turned back and let the chilly air brush against my skin. As much as I loved travelling with her, nothing beats a good lung full of fresh Earth air, as strange as that sounds. You learn to appreciate things that you normally overlook - even Earth oxygen and remembering what day of the week it is.

I turned onto the busy main shopping street and pushed past the sea of people. Everyone walked by absentmindedly, minds caught up in their own individual journeys, whether that be work, meeting friends, education or running errands. Keeping busy, as human beings should.

I supposed my version of a "busy" life was something completely different to theirs.

Every cafe I passed looked interesting, but I was after something particular to fulfil the Doctor's "exotic" request. Knowing her, she just meant something that was a little bit out of the ordinary. We were early in the third decade of the 21st century and people were into all sorts of quirky stuff, so I figured it wouldn't be too difficult to find something different.

Thus, her request led me here, a few streets down to a bustling local cafe. I figured the sheer number of people crammed inside the little establishment was a good sign - surely that meant the drinks were good.

It was around midday, so it was packed to the rafters with grumpy businessmen needing a quick lunch, freelancers on their laptops and friends catching up over coffees. I had a glance at the menu and joined the line, put in my order, paid with my oh-so-fancy Earth cash and went around to the counter to wait for my order to come out.

I felt a little bit like an intern, fetching drinks for the 'boss'. It was a fun thought to amuse, although I didn't see it that way; I was just doing a favour for a friend.

Eventually, I heard my name being called, and picked up the two takeaway cups in a cardboard cup holder and paper bag holding my lunch. I thanked the barista on my way out, being careful not to bump into anybody.

I'd offered to buy some food for the Doctor too, but she politely declined. I'd rarely seen her eat or sleep, yet she always had so much more energy than me. I was quite the opposite. I'd wake up in the middle of the night and groggily go for a walk down the corridor to find her working away in the TARDIS, similar to today. _Always work to be done,_ she'd say. I'd imagine the upkeep of a time machine is no walk in the park, but I often wondered if she ever rested at all.

I walked back down the street, carefully balancing the cardboard cup holder with our teas in one hand and wriggling my sandwich out of the paper bag with the other, taking care not to stumble over my own feet. Knowing my luck, that's exactly what would happen if I got distracted for a second or two, and I didn't really fancy seeing my beautiful sandwich sprawled out across the pavement.

I made my way through my lunch during my walk back. She'd made a comment once about crumbs on the floor in the TARDIS and how they absolutely cannot touch the console, and I'd taken that on board carefully. I wouldn't want to go messing around with a time machine, nor did I want a cross Time Lord on my hands, so lunch on the go it was.

Eventually, I turned a corner and walked back into the alleyway, and there stood the familiar blue box I'd grown so accustomed to over the past few months. Months? I couldn't tell how much time had passed, in all honesty. It's pretty easy to lose track of time in a time machine, funnily enough - but I knew it was long enough for me to adjust to this new life, and unable to imagine it any other way.

"Hello again," I smiled at the blue box, not expecting a response. I fumbled with the inner pocket of my jacket, pulling out my very own TARDIS key and gently nudging the door open, then pulling it shut behind me.

I found the Doctor still in the same position, assuming she hadn't moved an inch in the time I was gone. Similar to a cat peacefully snoozing in a spot of sunlight, but a lot more productive in her situation.

She must've heard me enter, because I heard a muffled "hey" come from underneath the console.

"I'm back," I said, chipper. "I got you some tea. Not sure if it's exactly what you wanted, but..."

She immediately scooted back up from underneath the console and removed her goggles and gloves, placing them on the floor beside her. She wiped her sweaty palms on her clothes, then beckoned me over.

"Let's give it a try, then," she said, rubbing her hands together in anticipation. I kneeled down beside her, carefully holding our drinks. "This one is yours," I handed over one of the cups, the tag from the tea bag sticking out from the lid. "Careful, it's hot."

She gave the cup an inquisitive look and sniffed it. "Smells fruity. Is it berries?"

"Pomegranate and raspberry, from a cafe down the street," I shrugged. "It looked interesting. Is that exotic enough?"

Instead of answering my question, she took a sip without hesitation and flinched immediately, squeezing her eyes shut and exhaling sharply.

"I did just tell you it'd be hot," I sighed, shaking my head. "Give it a moment to cool down."

"It's pretty good. Seven out of ten," she concluded with a smile, completely ignoring my comments. "Good, now I can add that one to my tea journal."

I furrowed my brows. "Do you actually have one of those?"

"Yeah, of course. It's all in here," she said, tapping her head. She raised her cup and took another sip, flinching again. "Come on then, aren't you going to try yours?"

I shook my head again and I diverted my eyes away from her in a sorry attempt to stifle a giggle.

"I just got my usual, I already know it'll be good. I'm just choosing to wait until it's at a drinkable temperature."

"No time for that," she scoffed in an attempt to hide her embarrassment. "Places to go, people to see."

"We're in a time machine, Doctor, we've got all the time in the world."

"Hey, that's not how it works!"

I shook my head and carefully plonked myself down beside her on the floor. I'm sure what she said made sense in some strange, timey-wimey way, and I wasn't about to argue with her on that.

I sat cross legged, clutching my cup of tea, letting the toasty takeaway cup warm up my cold hands. I told her a little more about this "exotic" Earthy tea, how it was locally made and only available at this niche little cafe. She continued sipping as she listened, forcing herself to be unbothered by its scalding temperature so I couldn't mock her for a third time.

Although I was telling her about such seemingly boring things, she gave me her full attention. I appreciated it, and she appreciated the tea facts - a win-win for both of us.

It was a very grounding experience being there with her, sitting on the TARDIS floor, chatting about everything and nothing. I closed my eyes and listened to the time machine's familiar background humming overlapped by the Doctor's soft voice responding to the conversation. I could listen to her ramble for hours, and she often would.

I took a moment to appreciate how peaceful it all was, how much I enjoyed little moments like these, and how she brought my soul a sense of contentment I'd never felt before we met.

I took another sip of my now slightly-cooled-off tea, and felt incredibly lucky.

The cup of tea might've warmed up my hands, but there was something else warming up my heart.


	2. Your Turn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "So, where are we off to?" She asked, leaning back against the console. "It's your turn to pick."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've got two assignments due this week that I'm procrastinating on, so y'know what that means! Here's chapter 2.  
> Hope you like it!

Sipping the last lukewarm mouthful of tea from my takeaway cup, I rose to my feet carefully. She followed my lead and jumped to her feet too, perhaps a little too excitedly, almost spilling her remaining tea.

"So, where are we off to?" She asked, leaning against the console. "It's your turn to pick." She leaned back on her arms, arching her back a little to stretch. It was... distracting.

"Um, I'm not too sure," I uttered, giving a dumb shake of my head.

"Go outside, take a look at the sky," she suggested, raising her eyebrows and pointing towards the door. "Find something of interest... a star, a planet, whatever you fancy. I'll see what I can do."

I gave a nod and turned to start walking towards the door, then stopped in my tracks as the gears in my brain started turning. "Hang on, it's daytime," I frowned. "Not much to see except clouds."

"Right, right," she said, placing her cup of tea down on the console and swiftly turning around and pressing some buttons. Then at the flick of a switch, she set the TARDIS in motion. The sudden jolt of movement threw her cup of tea off-balance. I gasped and rushed forward, catching the cup in my hands before it spilled everywhere.

"Oh no! Sorry about that," she uttered. "My brain is in a lot of different places right now. You'll forgive me though, won't you?"

"That's okay, I caught it just in time, it's..." I strung together some reassuring words, only to look up and find that she was in fact apologising to the TARDIS, and not to me. She was looking up at the giant crystal pillar rising and falling in the centre of the console with a slightly pained look on her face.

She clocked me looking at her sheepishly, now holding both of our cups. "Oh, right. Sorry to you too," and her face split into a grin. "I've been working on repairs all morning, it's made my brain a bit loopy. Oh, what would I do without you?"

I couldn't help but smile back warmly. Her clumsy, sometimes absent-minded nature got us into trouble from time to time, but we laughed it off. This time it was me who saved the day; even if that came in the form of catching a toppling cup of hot liquid. Small victories, right?

A few seconds later, the TARDIS came to a halt. "Okay, now go look," she said, snatching her cup of tea back out of my hand and ushering me out of the front door. I walked over and opened one of the doors. I stuck my head out, and was met by the cool evening breeze blowing against my cheek.

We hadn't moved in space, just in time. We were still in that same alleyway, except it was now the dead of night. The busy streets were replaced by quiet ones, and the bright, cloudy sky was replaced by a sea of stars as far as the eye could see.

I felt a presence approach behind me, and then, a soft hand landed on my left shoulder. Subconsciously, I froze up, standing still as a statue.

She had never been very touchy-feely. Most of the time, we naturally kept our distance from each other, and that was fine. It was foreign - strange, almost - feeling her hand resting on me, because it didn't happen very often. I wasn't going to complain, though.

Suddenly, I felt her shift closer, and then her chin resting on my shoulder. My breath hitched in my throat. _Oh no._

Why? Why did I react like that? She's just a friend - _knock it off,_ I scolded myself mentally. "Take your pick," she coaxed, her voice now very close to my ear. I could feel her breath on my neck, providing a smidge of warmth in the cold air. She gave my shoulder a squeeze of encouragement, and although I couldn't quite see her face, I could just hear the smile in her voice.

Nerves bubbled up in my chest, and I tried to swallow them, to no avail. Oh, come _on._

"Right," I said, dropping tension from my shoulders and shifting my focus to the sky. I consciously tried not to move around too much on my feet so she wouldn't move away. I was enjoying our closeness way more than I wanted to admit to myself. It was times like these that it was pretty concrete that I had feelings for her. Confusing, unexplored, and unlabelled, but _feelings._

I decided to push them to the back of my mind, like I always did.

"How about there?" I suggested, pointing to what looked like a star with a blue tinge around it, positioned almost directly above us. She gazed up and gave a short hum that I could feel through my collarbones and travel down my chest. A shiver went down my spine, and I learned on the doorframe in an attempt to stabilise myself. Suddenly, she pulled away.

"I'll lock onto the coordinates and we'll see where we end up," she beamed, bounding towards the console. She was probably excited to have a brand new attempt at impressing me, although she really didn't need to try at all.

I briefly missed the closeness we shared just a few seconds ago, followed by a pang of guilt for missing our closeness. The moment was short and sweet, and unfortunately I spent most of it trying to process what was happening rather than enjoying it. I urged myself not to overthink it too much.

The Doctor did not belong to me - she was independent, and I assumed, happy, on her own. She was from another planet, many thousands of years old and she had experienced all sorts of beautiful and awful things I couldn't even begin to imagine. Her face was young, but her eyes carried many generations of wisdom within them. Often, I'd look at her and wonder what exactly was going on in that head of hers, and whether she was truly okay deep down.

It was easy for me to look at her and see the brightest star in the sky staring back at me, but I knew she wouldn't feel the same. After all, I was a human - one of seven billion. The rest of the universe had many more fish in the sea, surely.

Don't get me wrong. I was more than happy to be within her orbit - although I didn't see myself being as bright to her as she was to me.

But it was okay, it was all okay. Even if I'd managed to make her smile once or twice, that was enough for me. At least, so I tried to convince myself. A somber feeling started to creep up in my chest, but I pushed that down and replaced it with the excitement of the new adventure that lay ahead of us.

"Okay," she breathed out, "I think we're ready to go. Come here for a mo." I strode forward until I was standing right next to her in front of the console, and she kept beckoning me to come closer until we were side by side, our shoulders touching.

Before I could ask her what she needed me for, she grabbed my hand and guided it over to a big lever on the console. She placed my hand over it and I laced my fingers around it, her hand still resting on top of mine. My brain crashed for a moment and I found myself in autopilot. I glanced up and met her hazel eyes, and my heart skipped a beat. It all happened very quickly, and my struggling brain cells were a few miles behind when it came to processing the whole situation.

She didn't need my help; she just wanted us to do this together. She was smiling at me warmly, and before I could make the conscious decision to react, I found myself automatically smiling back. A burning feeling crept up on my cheeks. _Oh dear._

"On three. Ready?" She instructed. "One... two..."

She pulled my hand in a downwards motion with no hesitation, flicking the lever and setting the TARDIS into motion. The familiar whooshing sound filled my ears and I could immediately feel the movement, and I was grinning ear to ear. It felt so grounding - and so special - to be at the console with her.

We stood there for a few seconds, her hand still resting on top of mine, before she gently pulled away and walked to the other side of the console to check on something - I figured that meant I could let go, too. She left my brain in a bit of a daze with that one.

I couldn't help but feel a bit special; it wasn't every day she let somebody touch the console, even if it's with her own guidance.

We're friends. _Good friends,_ I thought. And I was happy with that... or so I thought. Surely she was, too?

I glanced over. She had an inquisitive look in her eyes as she silently worked away at the console. Then, a frown appeared on her face as she was getting some readings off the screen. I poked my head around the console to get a better look at her, but she wasn't meeting my eye.

"Doctor? Is everything alri..."

Suddenly, the TARDIS jolted, almost throwing me off-balance. Strange beeping eminated from the console, and the lights inside the machine flashed red rather than the normal comforting blue.

The noise that filled the air was unlike the usual wooshing and vworping. It was distorted, unusual, and distressing. It wasn't something my ears had heard before, and I could feel my happy butterflies turn into bubbles of anxiety in my chest. 

Something wasn't quite right.


	3. Brace for Landing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You don't fly the TARDIS, you negotiate with her. Sometimes, I put in the coordinates and she disagrees."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realise in hindsight that I should've written this whole story from a second person POV, but I'm too far in to turn back now (no spoilers)!
> 
> Here's chapter 3. It's pretty heavy on inner monologue, but we're getting somewhere! Hope you enjoy.

We were still in motion - or so I assumed. 

Red lights flashed throughout the TARDIS. It was a lot noisier than normal. I stood there dumbly, frozen in place, looking around with wide eyes.

The Doctor had a confused look in her eyes and a frown on her face as she bounded around the console. I watched her hopelessly.

"She doesn't want to land," she finally shouted over the noise. "She's trying to get us away."

Suddenly, we were hit with a huge bout of turbulence that almost threw me backwards.

Before I could register what was happening, I could feel a hand on my upper arm, tugging me back up. She'd caught me before I hit my head on the pillar behind me and pulled me back upright.

She didn't say anything, her focus still fully turned to the TARDIS as we continued being thrown around. Clearly, she'd experienced this before; she had a solid stance on the floor, and wasn't going anywhere.

Then, I felt that same arm swiftly wrapping around my back and settling on my waist in an attempt to stabilise me, which only made my heart pound harder. Aside from all the adrenaline rushing through my system, I felt a sense of safety wash over me the second she came into contact with me again.

I tightened my grip on the edge of the console. It felt like we were rising, falling and spinning all at once. 

She used her free hand to continue working away at the console, frantically flicking switches and pressing buttons. I thought of offering my help, but figured there probably wasn't anything useful I could do in that moment. Gradually, we could feel the turbulence begin to slow down and fade out.

Finally, with a heavy _thunk,_ the TARDIS stabilised. If it wasn't for my tight grip on the console - and her arm around me - it probably would've thrown me off-balance again.

Her hand dropped abruptly from my waist and she strode to the other side of the console to take a look at a screen. I took a deep breath in an attempt to shake off the excess adrenaline. 

"What happened?" I asked shakily. "Why couldn't we land properly?"

The Doctor shook her head. "You don't fly the TARDIS, you negotiate with her. Sometimes, I put in the coordinates and she disagrees."

"But why?"

She remained silent for a moment, tongue poking out between her lips as she tried to formulate an answer.

"I don't know."

My eyes flicked down. _Uncertainty,_ that's different.

The Doctor liked knowing things. It wasn't very often that she couldn't find an answer for something, especially regarding her own ship. Whatever the reason, I had an uncomfortable feeling in my stomach.

When I first started travelling with her, she warned me that I might not always be safe. That's a risk I was willing to take right from the beginning. We got ourselves out of the most impossible situations. Sometimes it was clever reasoning, sometimes it was top-tier problem solving, or sometimes, just plain luck. There was just something about her that always made me always feel safe.

However, this time seemed different. Her gaze kept briefly flicking over to meet mine, and she had a worried look in her eyes before turning back to the readings. She didn't want to admit it, but I could tell that she was bothered.

I wasn't too sure what to do. I wondered where we'd landed, and if it was safe. Doubtful, but that wasn't anything new to us. So then, why was there this feeling of impending doom hanging over me?

She pressed her lips together as she met my gaze once again, as if she was worried for _me_ more so than anything else.

She looked at the human race with an endearing fondness, but she was also painfully aware that we had significantly more weaknesses than her kind. After all, she could regenerate; us humans just die. She had a very different relationship with death than we did, and so, she often worried for my safety. I could see it in her eyes on this day.

I often felt as if she was carrying the burden of keeping me safe, although I'd reassured her plenty of times that I'd be fine. Whether that was genuinely true or not didn't really matter to me - it just felt right for me to be by her side, no matter the situation.

Eventually, she broke the silence.

"So," she began, "This planet is called Loren, in the constellation of Cassiopeia. About 10,000 light years away from your home, give or take..."

I walked around to her side of the console and looked over her shoulder to see a lot of information on the screen, much of it in Gallifreyan.

"The planet only gets about an hour of daylight per day. It's usually gloomy and chilly, but..."

She swung around to the other side of the console and showed me a view of what was awaiting us outside. The image wasn't awfully clear because of the darkness; however, there were some glowing _somethings_ poking out of the ground. I let out a soft gasp at the sight.

"...there seem to be some interesting plants. Apart from that, the TARDIS is picking up on some signs of life, but can't pinpoint them properly..."

She scratched her head and scrunched up her nose as she bolted back to the other screen to take another look at the readings. She kept pausing her sentences and darting her eyes all over the place. I took a step back to give her some space to think.

"Any other thoughts?" I finally asked. 

"Nothing in particular, it's just interesting, that's all. A planet like this should have more life on it... but it doesn't seem to."

I crossed my arms and walked over, leaning on the side of the console. I tipped my head to the side and frowned at the screen. "Is it possible the TARDIS readings could be wrong?"

"Not possible, I just did a whole bunch of repairs. Checked everything, nothing's wrong. How strange... plants, but no animals. No people, either. Not that I can see, but the readings say otherwise."

I hummed softly. We'd gone to some interesting places over time; planets far off into the future with well-developed societies millennia ahead of my own as well as uninhabited planets covered in ruins of once thriving civilisations. This, however, was very different.

She finally pushed back from the console and turned to me. "It's a little suspicious that we had such trouble landing. That usually happens for good reason. We should exercise extreme caution out there."

The initial excitement had faded from her eyes. She was still fascinated by the whole concept of this planet, but confused and worried at the same time. She had a seemingly endless stream of knowledge (and monologue) coming out of her brain at all times, so this was not something I often saw in her.

"Doctor, we can go somewhere else, I really don't mind-"

"Well, maybe somebody out there needs our help," she cut me off. "We'll just be careful, yeah?"

I diverted my gaze to the floor, and couldn't help but smile a little. She'd never turn down the opportunity to help somebody, no matter how dangerous.

She frowned at me. "You can wait here while I go check it out, you'll be safe-"

"No, I'm right by your side," I cut her off this time. "I'm coming. We'll go check it out together."

I spotted a smile tugging at her lips. "Never turn away something unusual, do we?"

She was right, absolutely. We'd never turn something down just because it was out of the ordinary. In fact, we usually ran towards danger rather than from it; sometimes against our better judgment.

She had a certain charm about her, which could just be the fact that she was so fascinating. How often do you meet a woman with a time machine from another planet?

It didn't take very long for me to trust her in the beginning, and before I knew it, I was blindly following her into intergalactic battles millions of lightyears away, into prison ships filled with aliens from all corners of the universe and onto the soil of dried out, poisonous planets. 

When I was with her, everything just felt right. I felt like I was right where I needed to be. Deep down, I knew I wanted nothing more than to be by her side throughout anything. She'd often warned me that I could get hurt (and sometimes I did), but I never wanted it any other way. This situation was no different.

"You're right," I said, arms unfolding. "Let's go check it out."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!! I appreciate you (yes, you!) so much, it makes me so happy to see people enjoying my work.
> 
> Let me know whatcha think.  
> Also, My Tumblr inbox is always open in case you'd like to come say hello or leave prompts!  
> iced-tea-possibly.tumblr.com


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